The Senate voted “to end debate on a short-term spending measure in an effort to send it back to the House, with just four days to go before a threatened federal government shutdown,” the Washington Post reports.

“The fate of the bill remained in limbo in the House as the Republican Party’s rebellious right wing is blocking a strategy by Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) for navigating a series of deadlines to keep the government funded and avoid the nation’s first default.”

Wall Street Journal: “Republican leaders in the House have already said they won’t pass the version that the Senate approves, setting up a weekend of legislative volleying between the Democratic-controlled Senate and GOP-led House.”

National Journal has the Senate roll call.

Jonathan Chait: “Obama can’t tame the monster he created gradually; he has to kill it completely. Bargaining his way through this crisis would do Obama no good, even if he could get through it by offering up a meager or even symbolic concession. Anything that allows Republicans to believe they can trade a debt-ceiling threat for policy concessions simply creates a new hostage crisis the next time the debt ceiling comes up. This negotiation is Obama’s only chance to halt the routinization of debt-ceiling extortion…”

“The stakes are higher than resisting the specific demands Republicans are making, and higher even than the economic havoc of a debt breach. Obama is fighting to save his presidency.”

Wonk Wire: Breaching the debt ceiling would be catastrophic

Joshua Green: “If Congress could maintain even a semblance of functionality, then no one should want the government to shut down. According to the Congressional Research Service, the back-to-back shutdowns brought on by Newt Gingrich in 1995 and 1996 cost the country $1.4 billion. But it’s now clear that Congress can’t operate smoothly, and even a conclusive national election won’t break the cycle of dysfunction.”

“That’s why I’m rooting for a shutdown and you should be too — at this point, it’s the safest way to jolt Washington back to its senses.”

Ezra Klein: “It looks like we may have a shutdown after all. And that may be a good thing.”

First Read: “Twenty-four hours ago, it looked like Congress was headed toward a temporary resolution. Today, things look bleaker, and it puts Boehner in his box. Right now, the government is one step closer to a shutdown, thanks, in part, to Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX). Any hope Republicans had to at least share the blame with President Obama and Democrats was pretty much wiped away when Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Cruz had a fight on the Senate floor. There has been talk that Boehner has appeared to be trying to move conservatives to focus on the debt ceiling. And they are going to proceed with that, but they haven’t gotten off of the shutdown talk yet. And yesterday Boehner tried to show some vigor in when talking about Obama.”

“But it is also important to note that Boehner hasn’t passed judgment on what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing. We’re all, of course, going to be focused on what’s been SAID, but sometimes we need to also focus on what HASN’T been said. Boehner is keeping every option open to him. The odd thing about this shutdown is it is pretty clear the leaders don’t want it, but they have to figure out what the path is. Boehner can easily avert the shutdown, but would have to sacrifice maybe 50 Republican votes to do it, and he’s not necessarily willing to do that yet.”

Charlie Cook: “In the upcoming fiscal showdowns over the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling, Republicans are greatly exposed and could come out of this badly damaged. But as we saw in 2011, in a fight like this one, everyone can end up looking bad. In fact, the way it is shaping up, that’s a pretty decent bet.”

Rick Klein: “These are dangerous political times for all involved. Republicans are currently convincing themselves that they may be better suited to fight things out over the debt ceiling instead of a government shutdown. (Raising the stakes after drawing a bad hand?) The White House is currently convincing itself that the only thing to be sure of is that Republicans will fold, not once but twice. (Won’t there be blame enough to go around if either of the bad things on the horizon happen?) This crisis has been marked by a surprising lack of leadership – of caution, half-steps, missteps, and sometimes no steps at all. It’s a leadership moment for somebody, maybe from an unexpected corner, to navigate these next few months without everybody going bust.”

Bill Clinton told ABC News that parts of the House GOP proposal to raise the debt ceiling are “chilling” and “almost spiteful” in the way that it would impact low-income Americans.

Said Clinton: “If I were the president, I wouldn’t negotiate over these draconian cuts that are going to take food off the table of low-income working people, while they leave all the agricultural subsidies in for high-income farmers and everything else. I just think it’s — it’s chilling to me.”